Drier module for a drier

ABSTRACT

In order to provide a drier module for a drier for a coating plant, in particular for a coating plant for vehicle bodies, wherein the drier comprises a drier working space for receiving the objects to be dried, which space is bounded by a drier floor, a drier ceiling and lateral boundary walls, which reduces the transport costs for transporting the drier components from the production site to the erection site, it is proposed that the drier module comprise at least one section of a lateral boundary wall of the drier working space and one section of the drier floor and/or one section of the drier ceiling, wherein the drier floor section and/or the drier ceiling section are/is connected to the boundary wall section so as to be pivotable relative to the boundary wall section.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation application of PCT/EP2007/005117filed Jun. 9, 2007, the entire specification of which is incorporatedherein by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present invention relates to the technical field of driers for acoating plant, in particular for a coating plant for vehicle bodies,wherein the drier comprises a drier working space for receiving theobjects to be dried, which space is bounded by a drier floor, a drierceiling and lateral boundary walls.

BACKGROUND

A drier of this kind is known from DE 201 04 205 U1, for example.

Known driers of this kind are assembled at the erection site of thedrier from drier segments which are of the full cross section of thedrier and are assembled at a production site remote from the erectionsite of the drier. The transport of these drier segments from theproduction site to the erection site of the drier entails considerabletransport costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to reduce the transport costs fortransporting the drier components from the production site to theerection site.

This object is solved according to the invention by a drier module whichcomprises at least one section of a lateral boundary wall of the drierworking space and one section of the drier floor and/or one section ofthe drier ceiling, wherein the drier floor section and/or the drierceiling section are/is connected to the boundary wall section so as tobe pivotable relative to the boundary wall section.

A drier module of this kind can be brought into a folded state, in whichthe drier module only occupies a small floor space and can betransported in a space-saving manner, for transport from the productionsite to the erection site of the drier.

At the erection site of the drier the drier can then be transferred fromthe folded state to an unfolded state, in which the drier floor sectionor the drier ceiling section occupies the same position relative to theboundary wall section as in the finished drier.

Two drier modules placed opposite one another in the unfolded state atthe erection site of the drier can then be pushed together so thattogether they form a drier segment which is of the full cross section ofthe drier which is to be produced.

The transport costs for transporting the drier components from theproduction site to the erection site of the drier are thereforesubstantially reduced by the drier module according to the invention.

Moreover, by using drier modules of this kind, the time for assemblingthe drier at the erection site is considerably reduced when comparedwith assembly from individual components, as the lateral boundary wallsof the drier working space are already connected to a respective drierfloor section or to a respective drier ceiling section.

In one preferred configuration of the invention the drier floor sectionand/or the drier ceiling section of the drier module are/is connected tothe boundary wall section by means of at least one hinge.

The drier floor section or the drier ceiling section can in this respectbe pivotably held directly on the boundary wall section or connectedindirectly to the boundary wall section by being pivotably held onanother component of the drier module which in turn is connected,preferably rigidly, to the boundary wall section of the drier module.

Generally speaking, the drier floor section or the drier ceiling sectionof a drier module could extend only over a part of the width of thedrier working space.

However it is particularly favourable for the drier floor section and/orthe drier ceiling section of the drier module to extend oversubstantially the entire width of the drier working space. In this casejust one single drier module is required in order to form the entiredrier floor or the entire drier ceiling of a drier segment.

The drier module can be transported in a particularly space-savingmanner when it can be brought into a folded state, in which the drierfloor section and/or the drier ceiling section extend(s) substantiallyparallel to the boundary wall section of the drier module.

Generally speaking, the drier module according to the invention can beused for driers of any desired design and mode of operation.

In one preferred configuration of the invention, however, the driermodule is the drier module for a hot air drier, wherein the hot airdrier comprises at least one air supply duct through which drier supplyair to be supplied to the drier working space can flow, and wherein thedrier module comprises a section of an air supply duct, wherein thedrier floor section and/or the drier ceiling section of the drier moduleare/is connected to the section of the air supply duct so as to bepivotable relative to the section of the air supply duct.

The drier floor section or the drier ceiling section can in this respectbe pivotably held directly on the section of the air supply duct.

However, as an alternative to this, it is also conceivable for the drierfloor section or the drier ceiling section to be pivotably held onanother component of the drier module which in turn is connected,preferably substantially rigidly, to the section of the air supply duct.

Claim 6 is directed towards a combination of two drier modules accordingto the invention, wherein a first drier module comprises a drier floorsection and a second drier module comprises a drier ceiling section.

A complete segment of the drier with drier floor and drier ceiling canthen be assembled from two drier modules of this kind.

A combination of this kind of two drier modules preferably alsocomprises a transport container which receives both drier modules. Thetwo drier modules, preferably in the folded state, can be transported ina particularly space-saving manner in a transport container of thiskind.

At least one of the drier modules is preferably received by thetransport container in a folded state, in which the drier floor sectionor the drier ceiling section of the drier module concerned extendssubstantially parallel to the boundary wall section of the drier moduleconcerned.

Claim 9 is directed towards a drier for a coating plant, in particularfor a coating plant for vehicle bodies, which comprises a drier workingspace for receiving the objects to be dried, wherein the drier workingspace is bounded by a drier floor, a drier ceiling and at least onelateral boundary wall, wherein the drier comprises at least one driermodule according to the invention.

It is in particular possible for a drier of this kind to comprise atleast one first drier module which comprises a drier floor section, andat least one second drier module which comprises a drier ceilingsection, wherein the drier floor section of the first drier module isfixed to the second drier module and/or the drier ceiling section of thesecond drier module is fixed to the first drier module, preferably in asubstantially gastight manner.

In this respect the first drier module and the second drier module canin particular be welded together.

The drier according to the invention is preferably formed as a hot airdrier which comprises at least one air supply duct through which air tobe supplied to the drier working space flows.

In this case it is of advantage for the drier to comprise at least onedrier module which comprises a section of an air supply duct. In thiscase the advantages of the space-saving and transportable drier modulescan be used for the construction of the complete drier, including theair supply ducts.

In one preferred configuration of a drier of this kind the driercomprises at least one drier module which has a drier floor sectionwhich is fixed to the floor of an air supply duct section of anotherdrier module, preferably in a substantially gastight manner.

Alternatively or additionally to this, the drier can comprise at leastone drier module which has a drier ceiling section which is fixed to aceiling of a supply duct section of another drier module, preferably ina gastight manner.

It is particularly favourable for the drier to comprise at least twodrier modules which are welded together.

The drier can in particular comprise at least two drier modules whichtogether form a drier segment extending in a longitudinal direction ofthe drier.

In this case the drier can have a plurality of drier segments whichfollow one another in the longitudinal direction and are in each casecomposed of at least two drier modules.

In one preferred configuration of the invention the drier comprises aconveyor device for conveying the objects to be dried along a conveyingdirection through the drier working space.

Further features and advantages of the invention constitute the subjectmatter of the following description and the graphic representation of anembodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross section through a transport container withtwo drier modules held therein, these both being in a folded state;

FIG. 2 is a schematic section through two drier modules which are bothin the folded state;

FIG. 3 is a schematic vertical section through two drier modules whichare disposed opposite one another and are both in an unfolded state;

FIG. 4 is a schematic vertical section through a segment of a hot airdrier which is composed of two drier modules in the unfolded state;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged representation of the area I from FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged representation of the area II from FIG. 4; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic vertical section through the hot air drier fromFIG. 4 with a vehicle body conveyed through the drier working space ofthe hot air drier and a conveyor device for conveying the vehicle bodythrough the drier working space.

The same or functionally equivalent elements are designated with thesame reference characters in all the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A hot air drier which is shown as a whole and designated by 100 in FIG.7 serves to dry a surface coating of vehicle bodies 102 which areprovided with a surface coating, in particular a varnish coating, in acoating application section, disposed before the hot air drier 100, of acoating plant and then conveyed along a conveying direction 106 throughthe hot air drier 100 by means of a conveyor device 104, for example bymeans of an inverted endless conveyor.

The hot air drier 100 is formed substantially symmetrically relative toits longitudinal centre plane 108 and comprises a central tunnel-likedrier working space 110 which has a substantially rectangular crosssection, extends along the conveying direction 106 and is separated onboth sides from a respective laterally disposed air supply duct 114 by arespective vertical lateral boundary wall 112.

At the bottom the drier working space 110 is bounded by a drier floor116 which comprises an inner wall 118 facing the drier working space110, an outer wall 120 remote from the drier working space 110 andthermal insulation 122 disposed between the inner wall 118 and the outerwall 120.

At the top the drier working space 110 is bounded by a drier ceiling 124which comprises an inner wall 126 facing the drier working space 110, anouter wall 128 remote from the drier working space 110 and thermalinsulation 130 disposed between the inner wall 126 and the outer wall128.

Each of the air supply ducts 114 is divided by means of a filter wall132 into a nozzle pre-chamber 133 facing the drier working space 110 anda pressure duct 134 remote from the drier working space 110.

Each of the filter walls 132 has substantially rectangular filteropenings 136 which are closed by filter cartridges 138 which comprise asubstantially rectangular frame with a stretched filter material.

Supply nozzles 140 are disposed in the lateral boundary walls 112 of thedrier working space 110, through which nozzles hot supply air can flowout of the nozzle pre-chambers 133 into the drier working space 110 inorder to apply the hot supply air to the vehicle bodies 102 conveyedthrough the drier working space 110.

The pressure duct 134 of each of the supply air ducts 114 is connectedto an air supply shaft (not shown).

Air outlet openings (not shown) are provided in the floor area of thedrier working space 110, through which openings the drier working space110 is connected to an air extraction shaft (not shown).

The air extraction shaft is connected to the air supply shaft by way ofa filter unit, a heat exchanger and a fan, so that a recirculating airstream can be produced which returns from the drier working space 110through the air extraction shaft, the filter unit, the heat exchanger,the fan, the air supply shaft and the air supply ducts 114 to the drierworking space 110, the air which is recirculated by means of the fanbeing cleaned by the filter unit and heated by the heat exchanger.

Each of the air supply ducts 114 is bounded at the bottom by a supplyduct floor 142, at the top by a supply duct ceiling 144 and on its sideremote from the drier working space 110 by a side wall 146 connectingthe supply duct floor 142 to the supply duct ceiling 144, wherein thesupply duct floor 142, the supply duct ceiling 144 and the supply ductside wall 146 in each case comprise an inner wall 148 facing theinterior space of the air supply duct 114, an outer wall 150 remote fromthe interior space of the air supply duct 114 and thermal insulation 152disposed between the inner wall 148 and the outer wall 150.

The hot air drier 100 is composed of a plurality of drier segments 154which follow one another along the conveying direction 106 and of whicheach drier segment 154 is formed by two drier modules 156 a, 156 bdisposed opposite one another.

The first drier module 156 a of a drier module pair comprises a sectionof an air supply duct 114 which is bounded by a supply duct floor 142, asupply duct side wall 146, a supply duct ceiling 144 and a lateralboundary wall 112.

The first drier module 156 a also comprises a section 162 of the drierfloor 116 which extends over the entire width B of the drier floor 116,i.e. its extent perpendicularly to the conveying direction 106, and isheld at the supply duct floor 142 of the first drier module 156 a so asto be pivotable about a pivot axis 160 extending horizontally andparallel to the conveying direction 106 by means of one or moresuccessive hinges 158 in the conveying direction 106 (see FIGS. 3, 4 and6).

In FIG. 3 the first drier module 156 a is shown in an unfolded state, inwhich the drier floor section 162 is oriented horizontally and parallelto the supply duct floor 142 of the first drier module 156 a andsubstantially perpendicularly to the lateral boundary wall 112 of thefirst drier module 156 a.

In this unfolded state the drier floor section 162 and the supply ductfloor 142 of the first drier module 156 a are supported by means ofsupport feet 164 on a base of the hot air drier 100.

The second drier module 156 b comprises a segment of the second airsupply duct 114 which is bounded by a supply duct floor 142, a supplyduct side wall 146, a supply duct ceiling 144 and a lateral boundarywall 112, as well as a section 170 of the drier ceiling 124 whichextends over substantially the entire width B of the drier ceiling 124and is held on the supply duct ceiling 144 of the second drier module156 b so as to be pivotable about a pivot axis 168 extendinghorizontally and parallel to the conveying direction 106 by means of oneor more successive hinges 166 along the conveying direction 106 (seeFIGS. 3 to 5).

In the unfolded state of the second drier module 156 b which is shown inFIG. 3 the drier ceiling section 170 of the second drier module 156 b isoriented substantially horizontally and parallel to the supply ductceiling 144 of the second drier module 156 b and substantiallyperpendicularly to the lateral boundary wall 112 of the second driermodule 156 b.

In this state the supply duct floor 142 of the second drier module 156 bis supported with support feet 164 on a base of the hot air drier 100.

A drier segment 154 of the hot air drier 100 is produced from the firstdrier module 156 a and the second drier module 156 b by placing the twodrier modules 156 a and 156 b opposite one another in the unfoldedstate, so that they are aligned with one another in a horizontaltransverse direction 172 extending perpendicularly to the conveyingdirection 106, and then pushing them together along this transversedirection 172 extending perpendicularly to the conveying direction 106and horizontally until the drier floor section 172 of the first driermodule 156 a abuts against the supply duct floor 142 of the second driermodule 156 b and the free edge of the drier ceiling section 170 of thesecond drier module 156 b abuts against the supply duct ceiling 144 ofthe first drier module 156 a, as is shown in FIG. 4.

In this position the two drier modules 156 a, 156 b are welded togetherin a substantially gastight manner along a first weld line 174 whichextends along the free edge of the drier floor section 162 of the firstdrier module 156 a and the free edge of the supply duct floor 142 of thesecond drier module 156 b, and by means of a second weld line 176 whichextends along the free edge of the drier ceiling section 170 of thesecond drier module 156 b and the free edge of the supply duct ceiling144 of the first drier module 156 a.

Furthermore, the first drier module 156 a is fixed and stabilised in theunfolded position by welding the drier floor section 162 and the supplyduct floor 142 of the first drier module 156 a together in asubstantially gastight manner along a third weld line 178.

The second drier module 156 b is accordingly fixed and stabilised in theunfolded state by welding the drier ceiling section 170 and the supplyduct ceiling 144 of the second drier module 156 b together in asubstantially gastight manner along a fourth weld line 180.

Metallic profile elements extending along the conveying direction 106can be disposed in the area of the weld lines 174, 176, 178 and 180 forreinforcement and improved sealing, which elements are in each casewelded to the first drier module 156 a and/or to the second drier module156 b.

The drier modules 156 a, 156 b are transported from their productionsite to the erection site of the hot air drier 100 in the folded statewhich is shown in FIG. 2 and in which the drier floor section 162 of thefirst drier module 156 a is pivoted through 90° about the pivot axis 160relative to its position in the unfolded state so that it extendssubstantially vertically and substantially parallel to the lateralboundary wall 112 of the first drier module 156 a, and in which thedrier ceiling section 170 of the second drier module 156 b is pivotedthrough 90° about the pivot axis 168 with respect to its position in theunfolded state so that it extends substantially vertically andsubstantially parallel to the lateral boundary wall 112 of the seconddrier module 156 b.

When the two drier modules 156 a, 156 b are in this folded state the twodrier modules 156 a, 156 b can be placed against one another so that thedrier floor section 162 of the first drier module 156 a abuts with itssupport feet 164 against the outside of the drier ceiling section 170 ofthe second drier module 156 b and both drier modules 156 a, 156 btogether only take up a small floor space whose width b, i.e. whoseextent perpendicularly to the conveying direction 106, is only slightlygreater than the width of the two air supply ducts 114 (see FIG. 2).

The two drier modules 156 a, 156 b can therefore be accommodated andtransported together in a very space-saving manner in a transportcontainer 182 in this folded state (see FIG. 1).

The transport costs for transporting the drier components from theirproduction site to the erection site of the hot air drier 100 are as aresult substantially reduced.

Furthermore, by using the drier modules 156 a, 156 b, the time forassembling the hot air drier 100 is distinctly reduced with respect tothe conventional segmental construction, as the boundary walls of theair supply ducts 114 are already connected to a respective drier floorsection 162 or to a drier ceiling section 170.

The invention claim is:
 1. Drier for a coating plant, which comprises adrier working space for receiving the objects to be dried, wherein thedrier working space is bounded by a drier floor, a drier ceiling and atleast one lateral boundary wall, wherein the drier comprises a firstdrier module and a second drier module which together form a driersegment delineating the drier working space and extending in alongitudinal direction of the drier, wherein the first and second driermodules each comprise at least one section of the lateral boundary walland at least one of a section of the drier floor and a section of thedrier ceiling, wherein at least one of the drier floor section and thedrier ceiling section is connected to the respective boundary wallsection so as to be pivotable relative to the boundary wall section,wherein the drier floor section and the drier ceiling section extendover substantially the entire width of the drier working space, whereinthe first drier module and the second drier module are welded togetherin a substantially gastight manner along a first weld line extendingalong a free edge of the drier floor section and along a second weldline extending along a free edge of the drier ceiling section, whereinthe first and second drier modules are drier modules for a hot airdrier, wherein the hot air drier comprises two air supply ducts throughwhich drier supply air to be supplied to the drier working space canflow, wherein the first drier module comprises a section of a lateralboundary wall of the drier working space, a section of the drier floor,a section of an air supply duct floor, a section of an air supply ductside wall and a section of an air supply duct ceiling, wherein the drierfloor section of the first drier module is pivotably connected to theair supply duct floor section of the first drier module, and wherein thesecond drier module comprises a section of a lateral boundary wall ofthe drier working space, a section of the drier ceiling, a section of anair supply duct floor, a section of an air supply duct side wall and asection of an air supply duct ceiling, wherein the drier ceiling sectionof the second drier module is pivotably connected to the air supply ductceiling section of the second drier module.
 2. Drier according to claim1 wherein at least one of the drier floor section and the drier ceilingsection is connected to the respective boundary wall section by means ofat least one hinge.
 3. Drier according to claim 1, wherein at least oneof the first and second drier modules can be brought into a foldedstate, in which at least one of the drier floor section and the drierceiling section extends substantially parallel to the respectiveboundary wall section of the respective drier module.
 4. Drier accordingto claim 1, wherein at least one of the drier floor section of the firstdrier module is fixed to the second drier module and the drier ceilingsection of the second drier module is fixed to the first drier module.5. Drier according to claim 1, wherein the first drier module has adrier floor section which is fixed to the floor of an air supply ductsection of the second drier module.
 6. Drier according to claim 1,wherein the second drier module has a drier ceiling section which isfixed to a ceiling of an air supply duct section of the first driermodule.
 7. Drier according to claim 1, wherein the drier has a pluralityof drier segments which follow one another in the longitudinal directionof the drier and are in each case composed of at least two driermodules.
 8. Drier according to claim 1, wherein the drier comprises aconveyor device for conveying the objects to be dried along a conveyingdirection through the drier working space.
 9. Drier according to claim1, wherein the drier is configured for drying vehicle bodies.
 10. Drieraccording to claim 4, wherein at least one of the drier floor section ofthe first drier module is fixed to the second drier module in asubstantially gastight manner and the drier ceiling section of thesecond drier module is fixed to the first drier module in asubstantially gastight manner.
 11. Drier according to claim 5, whereinthe drier floor section is fixed to the floor of the air supply ductsection of the second drier module in a substantially gastight manner.12. Drier according to claim 6, wherein the drier ceiling section isfixed to the ceiling of the supply duct section of the first driermodule in a substantially gastight manner.